Splash Palace

New Zealand’s First Separate 50m Competition with separate Wave/Leisure Pool.

The building of the Southland Aquatic Centre is the result of nine years of planning by the City Council as they actively sought public input into its decision making. The public were invited to comment on two reports and a total of 778 written submissions were received. It was decided that the community would be best served by a new indoor facility, centrally located and with increased water space, adequate to serve the needs of Invercargill and the surrounding area well into the future. Being at the southern tip of New Zealand’s south island, Invercargill’s climate deemed an outdoor pool not an option as is more common in New Zealand.

The centre is truly multipurpose, catering to both the recreational swimmers and athletes. The 50 metre pool provides for 1, 3 and 5 metre diving and the movable bulkhead allows for multiple lane swimming setups as well as programmable multipurpose use of the pool. This complex will enable the Southland Regional Association of the New Zealand Swimming Federation to host National Championships for swimming and aquatic sports.

The Southland Aquatic Centre building project came in well below budget. By ending up near break-even, the Council had proven the skeptics wrong and shown it could build a top-class centre that was good value for money.

The centre is expected to attract between 300,000 and 350,000 swimmers a year. This from a town with a population of just 53,000 and in spite of Kieth Richards of the Rolling Stones opinion of the City!

NZ’s First Separate 50m Competition Wave/Leisure Pool. The building of the Southland Aquatic Centre is the result of nine years of planning. The City Council actively sought public input into its decision making. The public were invited to comment on two reports and a total of 778 written submissions were received. It was decided that the community would be best served by a completely new facility, centrally located and with increased water space, adequate to serve the needs of Invercargill and the surrounding area. Invercargill’s climate meant an outdoor pool was not an option.